26 research outputs found
Emergent dynamic chirality in a thermally driven artificial spin ratchet
Modern nanofabrication techniques have opened the possibility to create novel functional materials, whose properties transcend those of their constituent elements. In particular, tuning the magnetostatic interactions in geometrically frustrated arrangements of nanoelements called artificial spin ice1, 2 can lead to specific collective behaviour3, including emergent magnetic monopoles4, 5, charge screening6, 7 and transport8, 9, as well as magnonic response10, 11, 12. Here, we demonstrate a spin-ice-based active material in which energy is converted into unidirectional dynamics. Using X-ray photoemission electron microscopy we show that the collective rotation of the average magnetization proceeds in a unique sense during thermal relaxation. Our simulations demonstrate that this emergent chiral behaviour is driven by the topology of the magnetostatic field at the edges of the nanomagnet array, resulting in an asymmetric energy landscape. In addition, a bias field can be used to modify the sense of rotation of the average magnetization. This opens the possibility of implementing a magnetic Brownian ratchet13, 14, which may find applications in novel nanoscale devices, such as magnetic nanomotors, actuators, sensors or memory cells
Magnetic Behaviour of Disordered Ising Ferrimagnet in High Magnetic Field
The magnetic behaviour of a disordered ferrimagnetic system Ap B1-p where
both A and B represent the magnetic atoms with respective spin SA = 1/2 and SB
= 1 in presence of high magnetic field is treated theoretically.Assuming the
magnetic interaction can be described through Ising Hamiltonian the approximate
free energy is obtained using the cluster-variational method. The field
dependence of the magnetization is then obtained for different concentration p
and exchange parameters (JAA, JBB and JAB). For p = 0.5,the magnetization M in
ferrimagnetic state and in absence of compensation temperature Tcm vanishes at
TC.Field induced reversal of M is found at switching temperature TS (<TC) which
is decreasing function of field H.A maximum in M is found above TS and the
maximum value of M increases with field.In ferrimagnetic state M increases
almost linearly at high H region. For system with large ferromagnetic JAA,the
compensation temperature Tcm is increasing function of JBB and JAB .The
decrease in compensation temperature is linear at small field and tends to
saturate at higher field.The sharpness of the magnetization reversal is
increased with H.For fully compensated state of the system with p = 2/3,the
magnetization in presence of H also exhibits switching behaviour at TS .For p =
0.2 the field induced reversal of magnetization occurs more sharply.The
orientational switching of the sublattice magnetization MA and MB with field
increases the Zeeman energy and is the origin of magnetization reversal at TsComment: 12 pages,9 Figure
Variational Methods for Biomolecular Modeling
Structure, function and dynamics of many biomolecular systems can be
characterized by the energetic variational principle and the corresponding
systems of partial differential equations (PDEs). This principle allows us to
focus on the identification of essential energetic components, the optimal
parametrization of energies, and the efficient computational implementation of
energy variation or minimization. Given the fact that complex biomolecular
systems are structurally non-uniform and their interactions occur through
contact interfaces, their free energies are associated with various interfaces
as well, such as solute-solvent interface, molecular binding interface, lipid
domain interface, and membrane surfaces. This fact motivates the inclusion of
interface geometry, particular its curvatures, to the parametrization of free
energies. Applications of such interface geometry based energetic variational
principles are illustrated through three concrete topics: the multiscale
modeling of biomolecular electrostatics and solvation that includes the
curvature energy of the molecular surface, the formation of microdomains on
lipid membrane due to the geometric and molecular mechanics at the lipid
interface, and the mean curvature driven protein localization on membrane
surfaces. By further implicitly representing the interface using a phase field
function over the entire domain, one can simulate the dynamics of the interface
and the corresponding energy variation by evolving the phase field function,
achieving significant reduction of the number of degrees of freedom and
computational complexity. Strategies for improving the efficiency of
computational implementations and for extending applications to coarse-graining
or multiscale molecular simulations are outlined.Comment: 36 page
Unified treatment of spin torques using a coupled magnetisation dynamics and three-dimensional spin current solver
A three-dimensional spin current solver based on a generalised spin drift-diffusion description, including the bulk and interfacial spin Hall effects, is integrated with a magnetisation dynamics solver. The resulting model is shown to simultaneously reproduce the spin-orbit torques generated using the spin Hall effect, spin pumping torques generated by magnetisation dynamics in multilayers, as well as the spin transfer torques acting on magnetisation regions with spatial gradients, whilst field-like and spin-like torques are reproduced in a spin valve geometry. Two approaches to modelling interfaces are analysed, one based on the spin mixing conductance and the other based on continuity of spin currents where the spin dephasing length governs the absorption of transverse spin components. In both cases analytical formulas are derived for the spin-orbit torques in a heavy metal / ferromagnet bilayer geometry, showing in general both field-like and damping-like torques are generated. The limitations of the analytical approach are discussed, showing that even in a simple bilayer geometry, due to the non-uniformity of the spin currents, a full three-dimensional treatment is required. The model is further applied to the analysis of the spin Hall angle in Pt by reproducing published experimental ferromagnetic resonance data in the bilayer geometry